Turbocharge Thanksgiving with These Lightning-Fast Recipes

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Turbocharge Thanksgiving with These Lightning-Fast Recipes

You'll have enough time to make sides and clean your apartment by the time your spatchcocked bird is done cooking.

The Pilgrims probably had a lot more time than you to prepare their Thanksgiving meals back in the 17th century.

Sure, they had to plow the fields and de-feather turkeys way in advance just to have food on the table, but it's not like they had the modern trappings of social media, weekend warrior hangovers, and cross-country Facetime calls from parents to distract them from cooking on the big day.

As a way of giving thanks to all of these awesome distractions, we've compiled recipes that allow for a grand last-minute meal but won't intrude on your self-indulgent lifestyle.

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RECIPE: Spatchcock Turkey

A full Thanksgiving turkey cooked in a mere 75 minutes, "How can this be?" you ask. Spatchcocking, that's how. It's a 30 second step that saves you hours of cooking time and guarantees that your turkey breast won't be tree bark by the time your turkey skin is golden brown.

RECIPE: Honey-Glazed Carrots

Now that your spatchcocked bird is in the oven, you've got more than enough time to make your sides. By boiling and frying your carrots in the same pan, they will become flavor sponged and absorb every bit of emulsified butter, honey, and chicken stock. There's no time for soft, mushy carrots in 2017.

RECIPE: Creamed Spinach

Five minutes is all it takes to transform cooked spinach into a steakhouse classic. Just melt some cream cheese and Velveeta together and turn plain old spinach into a decadent side dish; a dash of Pernod adds an extra layer of old-school flavor.

RECIPE: Green Bean Salad

Nothing elevates a salad quite like bacon fat, and since you need to render a bunch of bacon for this green bean salad, why throw it out? Bacon fat mixes beautifully with champagne vinegar, and provides the ultimate highbrow/lowbrow party in your mouth.

RECIPE: Twice-Baked Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

You're three ingredients and three steps away from greatness with this creamy and crispy mashed potato dish from Matty Matheson. Matty wastes no time, as potatoes are boiled, mashed with cream and butter, and baked for 20 minutes on high heat, which you can do while the turkey rests. That's it, that's all.